Notably, budget writers in the Texas House and Senate haven't even contemplated increasing DPS crime lab funding "so that two analysts can work each case rather than one." Why would they? If they rely on the MSM for news, none of this has been reported anywhere except Grits. Chuck Lindell at the Austin Statesman has begun poking his nose into the subject, but otherwise, MSM reporters, where the hell are you on this one?
Issue:Was the defendant entitled to habeas relief because the lab technician solely responsible for testing the evidence in his case was found to have committed misconduct?
Holding:Yes. Although there is evidence remaining that is available to be retested in this case, that evidence was in the custody of the unreliable lab technician. Because the technician committed misconduct and his actions are unreliable, custody was compromised and resulted in a due process violation.
Commentary:A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This one analyst handled thousands of cases in the Houston area, and due to the breadth of the opinion, they may all be jeopardized. Situations like this, and caselaw such as Melendez-Diaz and Bullcoming demonstrate that the Legislature perhaps needs to increase crime lab funding so that two analysts can work each case rather than one.
See prior, related Grits posts:
- Thousands of drug cases may be overturned because DPS lab worker allegedly faked results
- DPS crime lab SNAFU may overturn thousands of years worth of drug sentences
- Convictions overturned based on DPS lab worker misconduct, hundreds more likely to be challenged
- Bad apple at DPS crime lab could spoil barrel of convictions
- DPS analyst who faked results worked on 4,944 drug cases
- Drug analyst at DPS crime lab issued erroneous reports